Short Stories

25. The Marbles

T/W: MENTIONS DEATH

 Marbles. A bunch of coloured spheres, so appealing to the eyes that it is almost understandable why he has it. 

In Steve's broken desk in the attic, there's a locked drawer, where these strange balls lie beside the Daffodil. And there's a reason they are there.

 It happened after the war. He was staying, temporarily, with Cedric at his sister Elsie's place. They said he was welcome. And he didn't want to leave for his  house—which certainly wasn't his home. 

Back in those days Earthian stuff used to be in demand. The war had brought the little planet in the spotlight and, being a newly discovered planet, it got an obvious advantage in business.

The same, however, couldn't be said about Xeutopia. They were drowning in economic crisis and more than a billion men were dead and floating in the space. The few who were still alive and fine were pampered and idolised, their stories listened to with awe and admiration. Fear, even. 

It was during that time when Sam, Cedric's friend, apparently, said the words. The words which were thought of as trendy back then—and even now—and were printed on T-shirts and jackets.

"Have you lost your marbles?"

Steve wasn't sure why she'd tell Cedric that . Heck, he didn't even know what it meant. But Cedric did fume for days on end. 

"So...what does losing marbles mean?" he asked Cedric, when they were playing football—an earthian game—with a pebble in Elsie's courtyard. 

It was a good day. The sun shone bright above their heads, but it wasn't unbearably hot either. The temperature was just right. Little T was having her nap in her crib. Cedric and Steve were free of babysitting for the time being. 

"It means I am insane, or mad, or something like that," he grunted, with a kick that sent the little white rock flying into the air. It sailed past the fence and fell in the neighbour's courtyard.

"Oh."

They paused the game and peeked through the gap in the fence. The house was quiet. Mr Willowergrahd didn't seem to be home and there was no sign of broken anything. 

"What now?" Steve asked.

"Now we get the rock back. Duh."

Duh was another trending earthian word, apparently. 

Saying what he said, Cedric sprinted away towards the gate. He was like that. They could have just as easily continued the game with another stone, but no, Cedric wanted to break in and get the one that he kicked. He lived for the thrills, it seemed sometimes. Steve followed him reluctantly. He wasn't at all in the mood for breaking in. The last thing he wanted was troubling Elsie. But his loyalty towards Cedric, and boredom, got the better of him and he followed. 

And he didn't regret it at all.

Mr Willowergrahd's home wasn't a big one. All the houses in Grand Forast Housing were about the same, except for the way they were decorated. Mr WIllowgrahd's fell on the modest side. A simple green garden, loads of plants, some wild bushes, shrubs and weeds, and a dragon tree was what there was. 

Cedric swung the gate open; it didn't creak. He stepped inside the garden and turned ran straight towards the backyard, where the stone was, probably. Steve followed the blond to the backyard—except, he didn't. Something caught his attention midway through. He was passing the kitchen window and, as per his policy when it comes to passing windows, he peeked in. He couldn't help it.

Steve had an unfortunate habit of polishing things shiny. And anything that glinted was immediately sought after; anything that didn't was scrubbed and rubbed till it did.